GALLERY | THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN!

Hatters return for pre-season with testing at the Uni of Beds and ballwork at The Brache!

27 June 2018

Just 53 days after the final day of the League Two promotion-winning campaign, Nathan Jones and his Luton Town squad were back to work today!

The Hatters players, including new signings Matty Pearson and Sonny Bradley, were hard at it preparing for the club’s first third tier campaign in a decade with a double session spread across the county.

In the morning the boys headed to the University of Bedfordshire in Bedford to undergo health screening and physiological testing, including a stint each in the Bod Pod – a capsule-like machine that determines body fat percentage!

Head of Sports Science Jared Roberts-Smith told lutontown.co.uk: “We’ve got a good idea of the lads from last season, but it’s to get an overview and get a baseline for them for pre-season. It gives us a picture of how they are returning, and then we will use it for monitoring and planning moving forward. We are doing a few different tests to get an idea – some body fat stuff and some body comps, and then some force testing and muscle analysis.

“Previously we’ve done skinfold measurements to get an analysis of their skinfold measurements and their body composition, but the Bod Pod is more of a reliable method, a really good, expensive bit of kit.

“We’ve come down to the Uni Of Bedfordshire to use their facility and get a better analysis and more valid and reliable measure of how they are returning in terms of their body composition, making sure they haven’t put on too much fat or whatever it may be over the off-season period, and that they are just coming back in good shape.

“If they are not, then we can do a little bit of extra work with them. But we know the group we’ve got and most of them will be fine, so quite straightforward hopefully.”

After driving back to The Brache for lunch, the players were out on the grass for a football reintegration session – basically getting used to having the ball back at their feet!

Manager Nathan Jones said: “They’ve come back and are in good shape. With the testing we’ve done, they are all in good shape so it’s all positive.

“Having the balls out this afternoon shows how much pre-season has changed, because I remember in my pre-seasons you didn’t see a ball for at least the first week.

“It’s a lot more scientific now and there is only so much you can do with them in terms of the physical testing we’ve done with them this morning. This afternoon we are getting the ball movements going again, because some wouldn’t have touched a ball very often over the last six weeks, and then tomorrow we’ll step things up, a little bit more testing on the physical side, the running, a little bit more ball work and we’ll just build into it.

“The important thing is that you get them fit, you get them fit safely, so that they arrive at the first game in peak condition and with a base that lasts them for the full season.”